________________
Proverbs and proverbial expressions
213
or absence of fortune; clever folk say, upon the presence or absence of keen discernment.' 1.377: nirvivekanaram nārī prāyo 'nyāpi na kāñkşati,
kim punaḥ çrir iyam devi puruşottamavallabhā. ‘As a rule even another woman does not hanker after a man wanting in discernment. How much less Fortune (Çri), the goddess, beloved of noblest men!'
1. 398-403: stanzas inculcating support of parents by children, especially 400:
mātņpitror abharakaḥ kriyām uddiçya yācakaḥ,
mộtaçayyāpratigrāhi na bhūyaḥ puruso bhavet. He that does not support his parents; the beggar that prescribes what is to be done (beggars must not be choosers); he that accepts the bed of a dead person, he is no longer a human being.'
1.412-13: two stanzas extoling helpfulness (upakāra).
1.421; 3. 124; 6. 363; 7. 121: all four deal with the aspirations of men of different characters (nicāḥ, madhyamāḥ, uttamāḥ).
1. 506: 'spare the rod, and spoil the child.' 1. 537-8: two stanzas describing ideal king. 1. 679: pradīpa-sarşapāu çlāghyāu laghū api guņojjvalāu,
mahāntāv api na çreşthāu pradīpana-bibhitakāu. The commentary pradīpana = vişaviçesaḥ. Cf. Bö. 334. Here is a trick: the small fruits (and small words) are better than the large fruits (and large words); pradīpa seems to be some small grain. 1.763: kim jātikusume vahniḥ kṣipyate kim mahākari,
mộņāle badhyate kim vā rambhā krakacam arhati. 'Does one throw fire on a jessamine blossom? Does one fasten a big elefant to a lotus fibre? Or is Rambhā (the heavenly nymph) fit for the saw'(?), or ' fit for the krakaca hell’? Cf. krakacāyate 'tear like a saw,' 3. 620; see p. 231. 2. 177: kstās tāruņyacāitreņa ye sphurannavapallavāh,
cațatpatradrumāyante jarasā phālgunena te. The bursting young shoots which are produced in the spring month (cāitra) of youth become trees with falling leaves in the autumn month (phālguna) of old age. The stanza is one of four, illustrating excellently the impermanence of life. For çațatpatradrumāyante see p. 231.
